What to Look For in Pepsi’s Q4

PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP) is set to report its most recent quarterly results before the markets open on Tuesday. The consensus forecast from Thomson Reuters is $1.30 in earnings per share (EPS) on $19.37 billion in revenue. In the fourth quarter of last year, the beverage and snack maker said it had EPS of $1.20 and $19.52 billion in revenue.

In the past month, Pepsi announced a partnership with baseball superstar Aaron Judge. While Pepsi has had partnerships within the sports community, Judge is perhaps one of the hottest star names in sports at this time. That status goes beyond just Major League Baseball — all sports.

Pepsi noted that Judge will serve as the face of Pepsi “championing the spirit and excitement of baseball, both on and off the field.”

24/7 Wall St. recently listed Pepsi as one of the 15 Defensive Stocks That Will Survive the Stock Market Meltdown. With this recent market correction, defensive stocks have risen in popularity, and while Pepsi is usually one of the front-runners due to its brand portfolio, the stock has slipped over the past couple of weeks.

Excluding Monday’s move, Pepsi had underperformed the U.S. markets so far in 2018, with its stock down about 7%. Over the past 52 weeks, Pepsi is up roughly 5%.

Prior to the release of the earnings report, a few analysts weighed in on Pepsi:

Susquehanna has a Positive rating with a $140 price target.

Credit Suisse has a Neutral rating with a $124 price target.

SunTrust has a Hold rating and a $125 price target.

Cowen has a Buy rating with a $133 target price.

Jefferies has a Hold rating and a $113 target price.

Wells Fargo has a Market Perform rating with a $115 target.

Stifel has a Hold rating with a $120 price target.

Shares of Pepsi were last seen up about 1% at $112.38 on Monday, with a consensus analyst price target of $125.55 and a 52-week range of $104.77 to $122.51.